


Phantasm

by starlightsonatas



Series: Énouement [2]
Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, Mirage is mexican because consider this: i’m mexican and i do what i want, Origin Story, some canon divergence to fit my headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 01:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17930525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlightsonatas/pseuds/starlightsonatas
Summary: Elliot scowls. Yeah. She has him.Elliot the placeholder. Elliot the baby. Elliot the afterthought.But he smiles, and he teases, and life goes on as it always does.





	Phantasm

His first memory is of his mother’s singing.

“I’ll love you forever,” she croons, rocking two-year-old Elliot in her arms as he giggles. “Te quiero, mi hijo. Para siempre y siempre, mi bebé tú será.”

Elliot hold her words close to his heart as he grows. His earliest years are his happier ones.

The Witt brothers are a loud, brilliant bunch, and when Elliot looks back he isn’t sure how his mom handled them all by herself. She never talks about their father (or fathers, as Elliot has always suspected that at least two of his brothers are only half related to him), and their grandparents live far away. 

Being the youngest, he’s coddled for quite a while. His brothers are intensely protective of him while he’s still a chubby-cheeked kid, mixing up his English and Spanish and making them all snort with laughter when he stutters, “Quiero abogado,” instead of “Quiero avocado.”

Of course, the years go on and Elliot starts to fade in their priorities.

There’s a four year gap between Elliot and his next-youngest brother, a seven year difference between him and the twins, and as they grow older he starts to feel a bit left out. Alexander and Michael have jobs from the moment they enter high school to help pay for the technical programs it offers, the expense of which their mother could never afford on her own. Sam, in typical middle school fashion, wants nothing to do with his elementary age brother.

His brothers are bigger, stronger, and most definitely smarter, as his teachers love to imply through offhand comments. Looking back, he can’t blame them, really. When you’ve had Alexander, Michael, and Samuel as students, getting Elliot Witt must seem like a nightmare.

He has always liked being the center of attention, a difficult spot to reach when you’re the youngest of four.

To Elliot’s credit, he doesn’t act out _terribly._ But he's known as a bit of a troublemaker and class clown, beloved by other students and dreaded by teachers. His charisma is already developing at such a young age, and he’s quickly initiated into the “popular group”, by elementary school standards. 

When Alex turns eighteen, Elliot is eleven and desperate to be like him. He watches his big brother enlist in the army with hot jealously. He would love to be a hero like the ones in the movies and the recruitment videos. Michael follows him, not to be outdone by his twin. This isn’t surprising, as Michael is always thirsty for a fight. He’s just as rash as Elliot will come to be, but he has the strength and smarts to back it up. Besides, Alex balances him out.

Their grandparents come to see them off. Abuelita sniffs and holds Alex tight, scolding them that he isn’t eating enough. “Alejandro,” she sighs. “You join the army, you get strong. You no eat, you no get strong. Here. I will make food and you eat it all.”

Abuelo claps Michael on the shoulder. “You are a man now, Miguel. You serve with pride.” Michael beams.

Elliot sours at the fact the attention is not on him, but he does get to enjoy Abuelita’s cooking for the two weeks they stay.

On the day they see them off, Alexander crouches down to Elliot, placed his hands on his shoulders and looks him in the eye.

“You take care of mom, okay? Sam’s always off in his own world, bless him, but I can depend on you. You don’t always act like it but I know I can. You can’t start shit in school. Keep your grades up. Middle school is gonna be different, Elliot. You gotta stay you.”

And Elliot agrees, but it is an empty promise.

Middle school does change him, for better or worse. He gets a little more wild, a little more coarse, and a lot more independent. He starts thinking about careers (he still stutters over the word ‘occupations’) and gets into engineering. He’s too young to grasp all the complexities, but he watches videos and pesters his teachers. Eventually a kind older substitute gives him a video set on how to build mini motors out of old pipes and wires, and Elliot feels something come alive inside him.

When Sam turns eighteen, Elliot is fourteen and watches his mother beg him to stay. 

“I only see all of my sons together a few times a year,” she begs. “Mijo, don’t go.”

Samuel kisses her gently. “It’ll be okay, mom. You have Elliot.” 

Elliot scowls. Yeah. She has him.

Elliot the placeholder. Elliot the baby. Elliot the afterthought. 

But he smiles, and he teases, and life goes on as it always does.

|||

He enters high school.

He makes plans.

He doesn’t execute them.

To leave his mother would be the greatest evil he could do. Elliot loves his mom dearly. He couldn’t bear to crush her like that. So he looks at his blueprints for the impossibly cool tech, thinks up super awesome names for himself, and never dares to speak them aloud.

Elliot busies himself with helping his mom around the house. He has plenty of friends at school, but he isn’t one for going out much. Would he like to? Sure. But he can’t worry his mom.

He has a few girlfriends from time to time, but he never brings them home. His mom might think they were getting serious, and maybe he was planning marriage, and then he would leave and only come home on holidays and maybe call once or twice a month and—

—the point is he can’t afford to hurt her.

He graduates.

His brothers go missing.

He holds his mother as she cries for days on end. When he’s alone, he curls up and cries too.

After what seems like forever, the pain seems to fade, just a bit.

Elliot starts to build.

His mother walks into his room one night when he is hard at work. He scrambles to hide his project, but there is no fooling the brilliant woman he loves so much. She sits on the edge of his bed and tells him all she knows.

It’s, well, it’s pretty much everything. She’s known that he has been working on the holographic tech for a good few years now. He is ready to apologize, to throw himself at her feet for making her think he would ever, ever abandon her, when she says she will help.

He stares, sure he’s misheard. She smiles at him, eyes deep and loving.

“My son. Do you think I would hold you back from your life for my own selfish reasons?” She chuckles. “Do you think all your mother knows how to do is cook and clean?” 

Elliot learns more from her than any of the books or instructional videos he’s ever seen.

He is constantly in awe of his mother. Strong, kind, brilliant woman, who has endured so much. He can’t think of anyone in the world who deserves more than her. 

The first time a test run is successful, Elliot picks up his mother and spins her around, laughing and crying. 

“Gracias, mamá,” he whispers to her. “Thank you, so much.”

“This was you, Elliot.” She pulls back to look him in the eyes. “You hear me? This was _you.”_

And Elliot Witt beams at her with pride and love.

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a short, somewhat vague origin story like the first installment just to get the series rolling, but then I thought “Hey what if Mirage was Mexican?” and my mind screamed, “CHÉVERE!!!” and I went absolutely hog wild. 
> 
> Anyhow, here are your translations.
> 
>  _Te quiero, mi hijo. Para siempre y siempre, mi bebé tú será._ — I love you, my son. Forever and ever, my baby you’ll be.
> 
>  _Quiero abogado._ — I want a lawyer.  
>  _Quiero avocado._ — I want an avocado. 
> 
> _Mijo_ — My son.


End file.
